A 72-year-old female fell victim to online dating scams twice, losing MOP160,000, police have reported.
Investigations revealed that in August last year, the victim met a Chinese man on social media who claimed to be working in the oil industry in the US and developed an online relationship.
Two months later, the scammer claimed that funds were not flowing smoothly and asked the victim to transfer money to a designated bank account.
The contact was lost after the woman transferred MOP60,000.
She realized she had been scammed and reported the crime.
However, in May this year, the scammer contacted her again and claimed MOP2.4 million had been deposited through online banking, but that a tax of MOP100,000 needed to be paid to enable withdrawal of the money. She paid the money.
After investigation, police identified two bank account holders, one of whom had fled Macau and the other a Filipino male foreign employee who was intercepted at his workplace Monday.
The man claimed his girlfriend in the Philippines had asked him to open a bank account to collect money, and that he had remitted all the money to his girlfriend to buy a house in the Philippines. He denied committing fraud. Staff Reporter
